students are given a problem — they could be told, for example, to pretend they are a mayor who needs to reduce a city’s pollution — and must sift through a portfolio of tools and write analytically about how they would use them to solve the problem.

The twelve first-person films that make up this series explore three related themes, each in its own way at the center of current debate about what works, and what's needed, to help students succeed during school and in life.